Lateral Movement

by Alzrius

867 - Strength Transcending Numbers

As his spell ended, closing his line of communication with the Night Mare, Lex silently clenched his claws into fists.

Outside of the cavern’s entrance, Kryonex’s monsters were growing closer. While none of them appeared to have noticed Nenet’s illusion yet, the sheer press of bodies meant that it was only a matter of time, presuming that a spellcaster or other creature with the ability to see magic didn’t notice the spell aura sooner. And while the demigod himself didn’t seem to have arrived yet, the fact that the temperature kept dropping – it had already plunged well past the freezing mark, and was continuing to fall rapidly – likely meant that he would arrive soon.

And when he did, Lex would need to face him with no divine backing.

It was enough to make him grit his teeth, feeling blood run down his palms from how tightly he was clenching his talons. Having a godly patron to act as a bulwark against other deities was the entire reason he’d forged a pact with the Night Mare in the first place!

But divine politics was still politics, it seemed, and his goddess had made it clear that she wouldn’t be able to assist him – directly or otherwise – in his confrontation with Kryonex.

Forcing himself to calm down, Lex relaxed his claws, the self-inflicted wounds already closing as he reviewed the practical consequences of the Night Mare’s non-intervention.

Despite his initial concerns, he’d still be able to use the divine spells she’d granted him. Having already transferred that magic into his possession, it was now his to use as he saw fit. But any such spells which called upon her to intervene, or tried to summon any of her servitors or creatures from her divine realm, would be denied.

Similarly, the Charismata could still be utilized at his discretion. But any object or area that he consecrated in the Night Mare’s name would be treated as an extension of himself for the duration of his encounter with Kryonex. If the demigod or his minions blasphemed anything he hallowed in the goddess’ name, no retaliation from the Night Mare would be forthcoming.

But what had surprised Lex most – though in hindsight it shouldn’t have – was that his ability to lay curses would also be crippled in the upcoming fight.

“Ever since you pledged yourself to me, Excoriation has personally overseen all of your curses, great and small,” the Night Mare had told him. “But the scourge is part of my Umbral Regalia, and so its involvement will be temporarily suspended. You may still attempt to lay maledictions, but there are very few among the planes who would aid your efforts when your opponent is a god.”

None of those, however, had concerned Lex as much as the other restriction that he’d been made aware of during his communion with the Night Mare.

His trans-temporal sense didn’t work with regard to deities.

He’d suspected that to be the case when he’d initially mentioned to Nenet that the Night Mare’s authority would keep Kryonex at bay, not having foreseen that the barbed wire around his leg would scratch him in response to that. But the conversation with the goddess had confirmed it, since he hadn’t known what she was going to say until she’d actually said it.

For whatever reason – because the rules of causality didn’t apply to them, because their ability to manipulate reality made such predictions impossible, or because they were somehow beyond what even a titan could sense – gods were beings whose futures couldn’t be seen. Or at least, not by him.

And even though he was only a demigod, Lex felt certain that Kryonex would be the same.

Which meant that once again, he was going into a hostile situation without being able to bring his full powers to bear.

But rather than anger him more, Lex felt his frustration diminish, a sardonic laugh emerging from his throat.

When was the last time he hadn’t had to deal with some sort of handicap? How long had it been since he’d faced an enemy that wasn’t stronger or more numerous or better prepared than he was? The odds had been against him ever since he’d resolved himself to taking over Equestria, let alone since he’d transcended mortality; why should this time be any different?

And just like every other time, he would persevere, overcome, and ultimately triumph.

Demigod though he was, Kryonex was about to become another stepping stone on Lex Legis’s path to dominance.

Master-

I’m here, Nenet, he replied, knowing what she was about to ask. With a thought, he adjusted his innate resistance to magic, allowing the scrying sensor that she’d created – and which he’d already detected lurking in the hallway behind him – to pick him up.

Oh! I mean, thank you, Master! I could sense that you were there through our bond, but I wanted to keep an eye on you. Not that I’m not watching Adagio too! I just had a little bit of magic left, and wanted-

It’s alright. I don’t disapprove. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Relief came from the sphinx then, followed by happiness. Really?

Indeed.

Turning back toward the cave entrance, Lex began to walk toward it, rising up onto his back legs as he strode forward. An act of will was all it took to sheathe himself in flames, the air around him igniting as he let the fire settle over him. But he didn’t feel the heat, nor did his body or his clothes burn, instead wearing the flames as though they were armor, covering him like a second skin, his cloak flapping behind him as the heat made it rise and dance of its own accord.

Watch closely, he bid Nenet as he reached the cave entrance. I’ll show you the power of the one you chose to be your master!

“SERVANTS OF KRYONEX!” he roared as he stepped out into the open, his voice amplified many times over. “MAKE WAY! I AM THE ONE WHO HAS WHAT YOUR MASTER SEEKS!”

The answer he received was a chorus of howls, shrieks, and screeches, as his unexpected entrance and the flames surrounding him caused the crowd of monsters – all of them creatures of intrinsic cold, and now numbering well over a hundred altogether – to fall back in surprise.

But while his foresight wouldn’t work on Kryonex, it had no such problems on his army, and Lex was entirely unsurprised when they immediately rallied, directing their wrath toward him. In an instant, dozens of streams of cryonic magic lanced toward him, from freezing winds to beams of pure algidity to spikes of icicles and many more, the array encompassing every kind of cold-based attack imaginable.

None of it reached him.

The weakest of the attacks simply sputtered out before making contact, too weak to even reach his passive defenses. Most of the rest simply shattered against the wards against cold that he’d already laid on himself; with Solvei’s inexhaustible supply of cryomancy at his command, he could lay down multiple defenses against ice magic, all of them commanding staggering power. The few purely physical attacks fared no better, failing to so much as make the fires he’d wrapped himself in flicker as they shattered against his body.

But magic wasn’t all that the army of monsters was capable of doing.

Even as their fellows cast spells and turned the weather against him, others raced forward, baring teeth, stingers, claws, wings, and other appendages, intent on doing through sheer mass what magic had failed to do. Serving as the vanguard, they rushed past the ones using magic as they moved in, leaving the rest of the monsters filling the valley to watch the spectacle.

A half-dozen horned, six-legged bears led the charge, intermingled among nearly a score of creatures that looked like giant blue lizards, save that where their heads should have been instead sprouted a scaly, humanoid torso. Several of the tentacled oozes were undulating toward him as well, and up above there were several winged serpents, each of them over a dozen feet long and sporting three heads. A handful of the three-eyed giants joined them, claws held up in preparation as they charged.

Waving away the remnants of the magical barrage as though it were nothing more than an insect, Lex’s lip curled as he glanced at the incoming throng, recalling when a similar horde – made up of ghouls – had tried the same thing back in Vanhoover.

Then, he had trapped the landscape in advance, used strategic placement of spells, and retaliated with carefully-calculated strikes with Severance, all in an effort to manage the deluge of enemies.

Now, he simply gathered his will and threw it at them.

His fight with Adagio had been instructive in several regards, allowing him to acclimate to his powers in ways that simple experimentation hadn’t. In probing her mind, he’d learned how to not only refine his ability to read thoughts, but also honed his ability to implant them, subtly convincing her to use her remaining aristeia carelessly. As distasteful as he ‘d found the act, there were situations where mental manipulation was not only justified, but called for, and not knowing how to properly control that power had the potential to prove disastrous.

Fortunately, using the Siren as a test case had proven quite instructive.

Before, when he’d spoken to Panuk, he’d accidentally shared his own rage with the adlet. This time, as he tapped into the rage of his own inner beast – the creature furious that he had to engage in yet more fighting without having food or sex to show for it – he concentrated not on sharing his anger with the surrounding monsters, but on magnifying it, heightening its effect on their perception as they bore down on him.

“BACK!!!”

The response to his bellow was a symphony of screams. But unlike the raucous wailing of surprise and anger that his appearance had heralded, the voices of the monsters announced a different emotion now:

Fear.

The tidal wave of monsters immediately broke apart, with almost half of their number stumbling to a halt as they scrambled wildly to reverse course, their limbs flailing madly as they attempted to reverse their momentum, crawling over each other in a mad bid to escape the terrifying beast in front of them. Their claws dug into their fellows, lacerating flesh and tearing through muscle and bone as they fought to put anything – distance, cover, or even their comrades – between themselves and the predator whom they’d so foolishly thrown themselves at.

They were the lucky ones.

As the vanguard retreated, the bulk of their number remained behind. But they hadn’t stood their ground; indeed, their collapsed forms – including several that had fallen from the sky – made it clear that not a single one of them had managed to overcome their fear. Instead, they had succumbed to it completely, eyes wide and sightless as their mouths hung open in silent screams of horror, the only external evidence of feeling dread so profound that it had cost them their lives.

And having seen their enemy brush off their attacks with contemptuous ease before slaying over thirty of their number with a single word, Kryonex’s army found themselves shocked into immobility, the morass of creatures falling still as they tried to figure out what had just happened.

But their paralysis was broken as Lex took a single step forward, causing each of the creatures surrounding him to move back by an equal distance.

Another step on his part, and again the monster army retreated.

His slow advance continued, the icy multitudes continuing to give ground, until they found themselves caught between Lex and the portal, shaking and grimacing as they realized there was nowhere left to go.

Lex, however, had no intention of advancing further.

“KRYONEX!” Waving a claw at the press of monsters, Lex looked directly at the glowing blue eyes of the hulking figure on the other side of the portal. “I’VE BESTED YOUR MINIONS! IF YOU VALUE THEIR LIVES, COME FORTH AND FACE ME YOURSELF!”

On the other side of the portal, the azure eyes narrowed. But the sound that issued forth a moment later was laughter, as deep and resonant as two glaciers grinding against each other.

And then the demigod stepped forth.

Author's Note:

Facing down Kryonex's minions, Lex's power as a titan easily overwhelms them, leading him to personally call out the demigod!

Will it come down to a battle of titan versus deity? Or will Lex find a way to settle things without a fight breaking out?

Comments

[Booster Spice]

Kronex uses Scout.

Its Effective?

The blue flying three headed serpent things aint Pokemon Hydreigion?

[Alzrius]

11696317 Well, if Kryonex was hoping that his monsters would be able to wear Lex down, he's pretty much had that plan dashed. Though judging by that laugh, he didn't seem too upset.

As for the three-headed flying snakes (which aren't blue; the blue creatures are the lizard-taur monsters, which are ice salamanders from the Tome of Horrors 4), those are khalas.

[Not so New Brony]

As distasteful as he ‘dfound the act

Oof, been so busy I haven't found time to read until now and two chapters back to back was a nice way to get back into it.

First off, the curses on Adagio was hilarious and oddly effective despite it's unintended effects on her actions, not that it matters to Lex though leaving Nenet to watch Adagio might not be a good idea if she tries something. Even with all of the curses on her, she will eventually get the cursed items off and try something.

Secondly, Lex using his power as a titan here shows that he's way beyond what he's accomplished in the past and yet the lack of the Night Mare's divine backing will make Lex's encounter with Kyronex even more difficult. Titan or not, Kyronex is still a demigod who also just lost a number of his minions to Lex.

Now I'm curious if the demigod will be able to detect the sliver of his divinity within Lex or not. Guess I'll find out soon enough.

[Alzrius]

11698544 Welcome back, and thanks for catching that error!

Lex has Adagio imprisoned, both physically and magically, but it's hard to see her taking this lying down. Aristeia or no, she's a survivor, and has spent long periods of time laboring under restrictions to her powers. Likewise, even if Nenet is guarding her, the sphinx has shown herself to still be extremely emotional where her mother is concerned. So the potential for Adagio to interfere remains non-negligible. Given what Lex is dealing with, that could prove decisive...but for better or worse remains to be seen.

As for Lex himself, he's clearly more than capable of dealing with the horde of monsters Kryonex has brought forth. But the real issue is the demigod himself; even if he doesn't realize that Lex has his stolen divinity, the fact that he's basically just stood up and announced that he's the one Kryonex needs to deal with (and then slain several of his followers), means that he's giving a challenge in all but name. Is he overconfident, trying to bluff, or trying to establish a stronger negotiating position?

We'll find out fairly soon, I expect.